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By Lee Min-hyung
The military sent key officials from the Defense Security Command (DSC) back to the units they belong to Monday as part of a grand reorganization of the scandal-tainted military intelligence unit.
"As of Monday, a group of 26 DSC ranking officers ― including two generals ― returned to their former branches," a military official said.
The decision came in the middle of the ongoing reorganization of the embattled DSC which is now on track for disbandment following orders from President Moon Jae-in.
The DSC has in recent months come under a strong public backlash for drawing a contingency plan to declare martial law last year. The scandal escalated after a 67-page military document, which specifies the military plan, was unveiled last month.
A 15-member DSC taskforce is suspected of laying out the plan to mobilize the armed forces if the Constitutional Court rejected former President Park Geun-hye's impeachment. The scandal-ridden former President is imprisoned for multiple corruption charges.
Following the military decision, the former DSC officers will return to the branches of the military they came from.
The officers are those involved in a series of DSC's illegal activities surrounding its political interference.
With the military's plan to overturn the nation setting off a wave of public criticism, the military formed a military-civilian investigation team to look into who masterminded the plot.
Nothing has been confirmed about who stood at the center of the scandal, as the investigation is underway.
Amid the snowballing controversy, President Moon ordered Defense Minister Song Young-moo to disband the security command and reorganize a new organization with limited authority.
The Ministry of National Defense then named Lieutenant General Nam Young-sin as the new chief of the reorganized security command. Nam is working on launching the new organization on Sept. 1.
Reflecting on the President's order, the new intelligence unit will be established with limited privileges that will prevent it from using its influence in non-military sectors under revised military legal systems.
